Bogu Armor

 

Sensei would explain, when I was a beginner, that Kumite on Okinawa, was full contact and done wearing Bogu Armor. That meant those full contact strikes would not injure the fighters, instead kumite would continue until one of them was knocked to the ground.

When he  returned home to the states kumite developed in a different way, no armor was work, no gear was worn, it became contact to the body and no contact to the face. Contact to the head could draw a warning  or if too hard – disqualification.

 

He explained in the Bogu Armor very quickly in a fight breathing became quite difficult. You could only see before you with tunnel vision and nothing could be seen to the side.

 

When someone asked you to fight, the others in the dojo would just continue training. Then you would fight till one of you was knocked down, to then doff the bogu armor and return to other training.

 

Note: When the dojo in Agena was open training was most often left to the individuals. There were only group classes for the new students. People trained as they wished. Shimabuku Sensei would sit off to the side observing, and when he saw one made progress he would enter the floor to show them the next piece of the kata or the beginning of the next kata, and then only three times.

 

 

One thing that was also different was that when the Okinawan students fought, they would throw their front kicks striking with their heel,  obviously generating more power to knock the opponent down.

John Bartusevics

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  · 

1959,during a Demonstration in Okinawa Master Shimabuku Tatsuo had Kikuyama and Sensei Harold Mitchum fight with full Bogu Equipment.